So, it's the year 2009, I'm in college at that time, going to school in Seattle, Washington. And in Seattle, there is a jazz jam session at this bar called the Owl N' Thistle. Cool little dive bar, exactly what you want in a jam session, kinda smells like stale booze, all the good stuff, right? So, I go for the first time, even the second time, third time, fourth time, fifth time. Honestly, it really doesn't matter at this point in my life. The same feeling inside of my body was always the same,...
Oct 31, 2022•42 min•Season 1Ep. 391
I got a question for you: Have you ever felt intimidated to learn jazz, or intimidated to play jazz with others, or perhaps you're someone on the outside looking in and it all looks a little bit overwhelming? But, perhaps you're someone who is working on jazz right now, you're an avid practicer, but you feel often frustrated. Well, there's a good chance that some of the reasons you're feeling that way are because of the culture of the jazz scene itself. the culture of the way this music is taugh...
Oct 24, 2022•34 min•Season 1Ep. 390
Today, on the show, we're talking about 3 elements that make up really, really, really good jazz solos. These are things I'm hearing from the best jazz musicians in the world, things that we wanna start implementing in our own solos. So, let's talk about those. Grab your favorite drink and snacks. In this episode: 1. Creating Amazing Melodies 2. Creating Rhythmic Interest 3. How to Play The Changes Important Links: Free Guide to learning standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way LJS I...
Oct 17, 2022•33 min•Season 1Ep. 389
Today, on the podcast, I'm talking about 3 questions that I find myself continually asking our Inner Circle members that I want you to start asking yourself as well. And I believe that if you start asking these 3 questions, you're going to start making faster improvements in your jazz playing. In this episode: 1. Why I'm letting you ask these questions to yourself 2. The difference between coaching and teaching and which role I take 3. The importance of critical thinking in learning music 4. Fru...
Oct 10, 2022•32 min•Season 1Ep. 388
Today, on the podcast I wanna talk about the future of jazz. We're gonna talk about the future of jazz education, the future of the genre, the style, where it's going. We're going to, of course, have to deal with the age-old question, "Is jazz dead?". And many of my thoughts about the state of jazz and the enthusiasm for the genre in this episode today. So, grab your favorite beverage, grab your favorite snacks. Sit back and relax! In this episode: 1. Is Jazz Dead? 2. Why Jazz Education Is Here ...
Oct 03, 2022•47 min•Season 1Ep. 387
Today, I wanna show you how you take a simple song, like, "You Are My Sunshine", and turn it into jazz. We'll take up 4 levels of reharmonization. In this episode: 1 . The basic chord changes of You Are My Sunshine 2. How I play the tune with the basic chord changes 3. Level #1 - How to turn the tune into jazz 4. Level #2 - Spicing it up a little bit 5. Level #3 - How to get rid of redundancy and add twists 6. Level #4 - Use this specific tactic to add more harmonic movement and color 7. A cool ...
Sep 30, 2022•19 min•Season 1Ep. 386
So, because I know the audience that generally listens to this podcast, I know that a majority of you, or at least a good percentage of you have never been to a music school before, and so, you may be wondering, what was it that I missed in music school that would help me become a better jazz musician. So, in today's episode, what I wanna do is just talk about my experience in music school and things that it really helped me with and how I was able to improve. But I also do wanna share some thin...
Sep 26, 2022•49 min•Season 1Ep. 385
So, what's the best way to learn and memorize the melodies to jazz standards? Well, today, I'm gonna just walk you through me learning the melody to a jazz standard that I actually don't know and show you my exact process. In this episode: 1. What I prepare ahead of time 2. This is how I start 3. Why my guitar and the recording are not on the same pitch 4. The pick-up to the next section 5. How chord charts become helpful 6. The pick-up to the 2nd A section 7. The second ending 8. The final resu...
Sep 23, 2022•19 min•Season 1Ep. 384
Today, on the podcast, I'm talking about 40 jazz standards that you should know and I'm gonna break them down by categories so that you can see which categories you need to fill in some more jazz standards on. In this episode: 1. Start-Up Standards 2. Advanced Essentials 3. Ballads 4. Bossa Novas 5. Bebop 6. Blues 7. Brent's top 6 Important Links: Free Guide to learning standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way LJS Inner Circle Membership Learn Jazz Standards Inner Circle: Get 50% off...
Sep 19, 2022•26 min
Have you been told any of these 10 mistruths about jazz? If so, you may have started believing things that are ultimately not helping you improve as a jazz player. In this episode: 1. Mistruth #1: If you can hear it, then you can play it. 2. Mistruth #2: You don't need to know theory in order to play jazz. 3. Mistruth #3: You need to know a lot of music theory in order to play jazz. 4. Mistruth #4: You need to have amazing techniques in order to play jazz. 5. Mistruth #5: Learn jazz solos and yo...
Sep 16, 2022•14 min•Season 1Ep. 382
Today, on the podcast, I"m gonna be talking about an important concept that I call, "The Practicing Snowball". "The Practicing Snowball" is something that's going to leave you feeling super encouraged, I believe, by the end of this episode. And it's going to show you how the compounding effects of your practice really come into play from looking at this from a variety of different angles. In this episode: 1. The Practicing Snowball and what it is 2. The many different skills you didn't know you ...
Sep 12, 2022•33 min•Season 1Ep. 381
If you've ever felt overwhelmed at jazz improvisation and unsure of where to get started, today I'm going to show you exactly how it works, make it simple so you get headed in the right direction. In this episode: 1. How to start improvising over 2-5-1 2. The most basic notes you can play 3. The modes of each chord 4. The most important notes 5. The actual scale used by jazz musicians 6. How jazz musicians actually play the chromatic and major scale 7. How a jazz musician might resolve to a chor...
Sep 09, 2022•18 min•Season 1Ep. 380
One thing that attracts musicians to jazz is the fact that the possibilities are endless. When it comes to improvisation, really, there are so many different avenues to explore, so many different things you can play and after listening to some of the greatest jazz musicians in the world, you realize there's a massive amount of vocabulary out there that you can express. The rules are there but, really, the rules are meant to be broken. The problem with jazz, though, is that there are too many pos...
Sep 05, 2022•27 min•Season 1Ep. 379
In today's episode, we're gonna talk about where is the best place for you to learn jazz: Is it music books? Is it YouTube videos and podcast episodes like this? Is it courses? Is it memberships, or is it private lessons? We're gonna go through them and talk about the pros and cons of each one. In this episode: 1. The Pros and Cons of Music Books 2. The Pros and Cons of Online Content 3. The Pros and Cons of Courses 4. The Pros and Cons of Memberships 5. The Pros and Cons of Private Lessons Impo...
Aug 29, 2022•51 min•Season 1Ep. 378
What's up, guys? It's Brent here. So I was just surfing the Internet and I found a video of me playing a gig from 10 years ago. Today, I'm gonna watch that video, give you my reaction to it, and let's see how messy it gets. In this episode: 1. Intro 2. The melody 3. Pro Tip 4. The organ solo (by Camden Hughes) - my impression 5. My impression of my comping 6. Pro Tip 7. When I hit it pretty good 8. How I rate my solo 9. How I failed on trading 4s 10. How I rate my trading 4s 11. Evaluation Impor...
Aug 26, 2022•20 min
Are you trying to get back "into shape" after being off of playing for a while? In today's episode, I will be sharing some tips on how to help you get back into the flow and feel that connection with your instrument and your music to prepare you to perform or just get you to play again. In this episode: 1. Listen to music that is "sticky" for you 2. Start getting reacquainted with your instrument 3. Start practicing common chord progressions 4. Practice a song you are comfortable with 5. Practic...
Aug 22, 2022•30 min•Season 1Ep. 376
Giant Steps is notoriously one of the most feared jazz standards for musicians to learn and improvise over, not only because of the complex harmony but also because of the speed. So today, I'm gonna talk about how we can learn the chords most efficiently so we can improvise over them well and find out the harmonic secrets that Giant Steps has to offer. In this episode: 1. Intro 2. Preparing to learn the melody - LIST process 3. Analyzing the chords (featuring Brett Pontecorvo) 4. The ii-V-I cade...
Aug 19, 2022•11 min•Season 1Ep. 375
"What prevents you from achieving your jazz goals?". This was a question we recently polled our community over on YouTube about, and we got a lot of really interesting answers and responses to our poll. So, in today's episode what I wanna do is I wanna go over those results; what people are saying and talk about each result and help you understand how really, they're not actually truly holding you from your jazz goals if you channel them in the different direction. In this episode: 1. Addressing...
Aug 15, 2022•43 min•Season 1Ep. 374
Today, we're talking about the classic minor jazz standard, "Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise". We'll take a look at the chords to figure out the most efficient way to learn it as well as some harmonic secrets within the tune that will help us improvise over it. in this episode: 1. Short demo 2. The best way to learn the melody 3. Identifying the key - The first A section 4. Things you can do with a minor ii-V-I progression 5. A tritone substitution 6. Chord substitution options 7. Associating th...
Aug 12, 2022•15 min
Today on the podcast I have a member of my team, Brett Pontecorvo, to the show with me to discuss 2 questions. And those questions are: - What is one musical skill you are/were lacking that caused you some trouble in your career? and - If you could start over, what would be the one musical skill you would master? A lot of gold within these hills. In this episode: 1. What is one musical skill you are/were lacking that caused you some trouble in your career? 2. If you could start over, what would ...
Aug 08, 2022•20 min
Today, we're talking about the classic ballad, "Misty" by Errol Garner. We'll take a look at the chords so we can figure out how to most efficiently learn it and find out what harmonic secrets we can discover in the process. In this episode: 1. Intro 2. Misty - short demo 3. The best way to learn the melody 4. Identifying the key 5. Relating key centers 6. Relating the melody to the chord changes 7. Identifying backdoor dominants 8. Identifying secondary dominants 9. Understanding the form 10. L...
Aug 05, 2022•16 min•Season 1Ep. 371
Giant Steps by John Coltrane is often known as a right of passage for jazz musicians because it is notoriously one of the most difficult jazz standards to learn and improvise over. Truly it is a complicated song. So, in today's episode, I'm actually gonna talk about why actually going into the trouble of working on and practicing and learning Giant Steps is actually gonna help you play all other jazz standards a lot better. In this episode: 1. Reasons why you need to study Giant Steps 2. Learn t...
Aug 01, 2022•27 min•Season 1Ep. 370
Welcome to episode 369 In this episode: 1. Why my friend is no longer passionate about jazz 2. Why there is nothing for you to do if you are no longer excited about jazz 3. A few caveats to consider 4. How jazz transformed my friend's playing forever Important Links: Free Guide to learning standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way LJS Inner Circle Membership Learn Jazz Standards Inner Circle: Get 50% off your first month!...
Jul 25, 2022•28 min•Season 1Ep. 369
I'm gonna show you 5 jazz licks to have you sound like a pro and unveil some of the secrets that jazz musicians are using in their solos. In this episode: 1. Intro 2. Lick #1: What musicians would do over top of V-I chord progressions 3. Lick #2: Over I-IV-iii-vi chord progressions 4. Lick #3: Over a ii-V chord progression 5. Lick #4: Over another ii-V chord progression with a different approach 6. Lick #5: Over I-vi-ii-V chord progression Important Links: LJS Inner Circle Membership Free Guide ...
Jul 22, 2022•12 min•Season 1Ep. 368
Alright, Magalie, can you say hello to the podcast listeners today? Oh, don't grab the microphone, it's expensive. Can you say, "Hi, podcast listeners!" (Baby mumbled) Yeah, hi! Okay, let's get on to the show now. Have you ever heard this saying before that insanity is doing the same thing, over and over and over again and expecting different results, right? You've heard that before. Well, I have to think about that in terms of friction. Like, what friction are we experiencing in our jazz playin...
Jul 18, 2022•32 min•Season 1Ep. 367
This is a $600 jazz guitar and this is a $6000 jazz guitar. Today, I'm discussing which one I personally like the most as well as the age-old question, "Does having an expensive instrument help you play music better?". You might be surprised. In this episode: 1. Intro 2. My $600 jazz guitar - brand and specs 3. My $6000 jazz guitar - brand and specs 4. Sound demo - $600 jazz guitar 5. Sound demo - $6000 jazz guitar 6. Sound comparison - my opinion 7. Which one do I like better? What Georgia has ...
Jul 15, 2022•11 min•Season 1Ep. 366
Have you ever looked back on something that you've done and gone, "If I only knew what I know now, I would have done that thing a little bit differently"? Well, I was thinking about that the other day about my jazz playing. If I know what I know now, would I do something completely different or have a different approach to learning jazz than I did when I first started learning it? Well, in today's episode that's exactly when I'm gonna do. I'm gonna build a time machine. I'm gonna go back, and I'...
Jul 11, 2022•32 min•Season 1Ep. 365
After learning a jazz standard you may find it difficult to recall the chord changes in the long term, especially if you're learning a lot of them. So, I'm gonna share with you how I memorize chords to jazz standards so I don't forget them. In this episode: 1. Intro 2. #1: Reading A Chord Chart 3. #2: Learning the Chords by Ear 4. Learn this first before learning chord changes 5. The first basic thing I look for 6. The second thing I look for 7. The absolute key to memorizing chords 8. How to re...
Jul 08, 2022•20 min•Season 1Ep. 364
Okay, so this is a jazz podcast, so obviously we talk a lot about jazz education: how do you play jazz, how do you get better at jazz, and of course, what jazz should you listen to and really digest in order to become a better jazz musician. However, I do not only listen to jazz music. I actually enjoy listening to an array of different styles of music and in some cases, I choose to listen to other styles of music over jazz. That being said, I often find that these other styles of music influenc...
Jul 04, 2022•44 min•Season 1Ep. 363
In today's episode, we're gonna do a little thought experiment that will help us get in the mindset that we need to be, to play melodies and solos creatively and at the top of our game, to take a boring expression of a melody and truly turn it into something that is riveting for the audience and riveting for ourselves. Main Points: 1. Playing a melody by the book vs. the way a pro jazz musician would play it 2. Example of a "basic" melody 3. The "Bluenote Thought Experiment" 4. Example of a pro-...
Jun 27, 2022•31 min•Season 1Ep. 362
